Audible signal device for indicating movement of a game piece



Apnl 20, 1965 J. B. BUDI 3,179,416

AUDIBLE SIGNAL DEV FOR INDI TING MOVEMENT 0F AME PIEC F-iled Sept. 15, 1963 United States Patent Ciice 3,179,416 Patented Apr. 20, 1965 3,179,416 Y AUDIBLE SIGNAL DEVICE FOR INDICATING MOVEMENT OF AGAME PIECE Joseph B. Bdi, 287 Scarlett Road, Torontol 9, Ontario, Canada Filed Sept. 13, 1963, Ser. No. 308,817 '14 Claims. (Cl. 273-137) This invention relates to an indicating gamepiece, and more particularly to a gamepiece which is capable of providing an unmistakable audible indication of untoward interference therewith by a player. Y

A great many games are known which involve the movement of gamepieces over an appropriately marked board in accordance with an established set of rules. One such game, enjoying widespread popularity, is that known as chessf Owing to the complicated nature of some o-f these games, it will often happen that a player will change his mind while actually engaged in moving a gamepiece and will decide that some alternative move is preferable. However the rules of such games Ispecifically prohibit any such indecision and the player is `generally obliged to consummate any move, once initiated, or else incur some form of penalty.

A certain difculty therefore arises in determining whether a player has `actually commenced to move a gamepiece, or whether the gamepieceV has merely been touched by the player without, however, incurring any actual movement thereof.

Accordingly various attempts have been made to devise some 'form of signalling device which will provide definite indica-tion as to Whether a gamepiece has actually been interfered with to an extent sufiicient to penalize a player, whereby a player cannot argue that he has not initiated `or completed a move once presented with said definite indication to the contrary.

Prior Iart lattempts Ito devise an indicator for gamepieces have tended to resort primarily tto electrical principles, whereby indicationresults from breaking of contact between the gamepiece and board,,or in moving the garnepiece from an electricallyconductive section of the :in

board to an insulative section, et-c. Such electrical indicating systems are relativelyrexpensive in construction however and embody severa-l obvious disadvantages such as the necessity tosafeguard the players against electrical shock, the lack of portability due to reliance on electrical mains, the need for replacement of batteries when such are used to render the board portable, and the everpresent possibili-ty of an electrical system being rendered inoperative by dust or corrosion without either player being aware that the game is no longer being monitored to provide the intended indication of infractions of the rules.

ca-ting infractions, there has apparently been little incentive in the art to investigate alternative systems. For instance suchA attempts as have been Vmade to employ mechanical systems for such .indication purposes have tended to rely on inertial principles, whereby the gamepiece must be subjected to a relatively abrupt jolt before sufficient acceleration is present to actuate the sensor, which is usually arranged to be a spring-mounted bob or similar -bell-clapper mechanism capable of providing an audible indication.

Hence these inertial systems previously employed forl u indicating infractions have generally not been suliiciently sensitive tto provide the necessary reliable indication of tion remains below a detectable level.

Accordingly it is an object of Ithe present invention to provide a movement indicator particularly suitable for certain gamepieces, which will detect infractions of the rules off play, without exhibiting any of the afore-mentioned shortcomings.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a moveindicator for gamepieces which is of a simplified construction enabling economical incorporation in said gamepieces.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a move-indicator lfor gamepieces which ensures a reliable indictaion of Yboth the initiation and completion of a move, irrespective of the speed with which the .gamepiece transferred over the board.

It is a still further and important object of the invention to provide an indicating mechanism for a gamepiece whereby a audible and unmistakable signal is given whenever the gamepiece is raised or lowered on the board.

It is particularly, though not exclusively, an object of theinvention to provide an audible move-indicator for chessrnen.

Still another important` object of the invention is to provide an audible move-indicator for gamepieces which will readily conform to the coniiguration thereof without any adverse elfect on the appearance of the gamepiece.

` Briefly therefore the invention contemplates providing a garnepiece with a weight-actuated striker mechanism wherein the weight `moves in response to raising or lowering of the gamepiece and is coupled to the striker through gearing whereby :the movement of the weight relative to the gamepiece may be considerably amplied to drive the striker against a chiming member, such as a Ibell. For a more comprehensive appreciation of the aims and objects of the invention however, reference is made to the ensuing description and claims wherein- FIG. 1 is a perspective sectional view of a gamepiece ofthe chess variety incorporating ythe novel audible moveindicator of the invention. i

FIG. 2` is Ia partially-sectioned elevational view of th novel gamepiece of FIG. 1 and;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken in the plane 3--3 of FIG. 1. A

Considering the preferred form of the novel audible move-indicator of the invention which is illustrated by way of example, there is shown a conventional top 6 suitably contoured to identify the gamepiece 7 as to type. Inthe particular example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 -for instance the gamepiece will be recognized as a che'ssman of the castle variety. The gamepiece 7 has an external contour which is essentially conventional and is allowed to rest upon a conventional gameboard 8.

According to the invention however an audible chim- 4ing member 9 is suspended about the gamepiece 7 and `'may take the form of a resonant metallic ring 9 as shown.

The chiming ring or bell 9 is disposed adjacent a striker 10 which is shown in FIG. 1 as having a T-'bar configuration in cross section. The resonant ring 9 is convenient- `ly located within the confines of an annular channel 11,

which is dened between a lower flange 12 of the identication top 6 and a shoulder 13 of the gamepiece 7. It will be realized that the chirning ring 9 must not be un- `duly constrained, otherwise the resonant properties thereof would not become fully effective to produce a distinct chime. A suitable means whereby resonant ring 9 may be loosely suspended within the confines of channel 11 is the coil-springs 14 on the gamepiece 7. The sounding ring 9 may then be attached `to the springs 14 in any known manner and thus are carried by the gamepiece 7 without occasioning any appreciable damping of the resonant sound produced. Y

VThe ange 15`of the striker 10 is slidably supported within a horizontal slot 16 which has both ends thereof opening into channel 11 whereby they face directly onto the sounding ring 9. Theweb portion 17 of striker 10 has ratchet teeth provided therealong as shown in'FIGS. l and 2f, whereby said striker may. be propelled along slot 16 by driving mechanism about to be described.

The rack teeth of ratchet portion 17 of striker ware arranged to mesh with peripheral teeth on a segmental gear or pinion 18, which segmental gear or pinion 18 is arranged to be ,supportedas on ashaft 19. Shaft 19 is conveniently journalled in the hollow body of gamepiece 7, and a pitman or crank 20 is eccentrically coupled to pinion 18 as bya pivot pin 19a. LA similar pivot pin 19h is employed to couple the remaining'end ofycrank 2t) to an actuating weight 21, which is slidably housed in the base of gamepiece 7. v t

The driving weight 21 is Vprovided with a peripheral flange 22, in sliding contact with the interior of gamepiece 7,'whereby weight 21 is smoothly guided in a vertical direction. The ange 22 also serves to limit the eX- tent of vertical movement ofthe driving weight 21 within .a groove 23 dened between a retaining disc 2d and a shoulder 25a within base 25 of the gamepiece body.

It Will thus. be apparent that, with the disclosed con struction, upon raising gamepiece 7 from the surface of board the actuating weight 211 kwill drop downwardly under the action of gravity, thereby causing the associated pitman or crank 2t) and pinion 18 coupled thereto to move in the direction of arrows'Zd. Weight 21 thus descends to the extended position of FIG. 2, causing the gearsegment and rack teeth lto project Vstriker 10 'against the left-hand portion of the sounding ring 9, with consequent sounding o anaudible note thereby. v

In a similar manner it will be evident that, upon resetting gamepiece 7 back onto they surface of board 8, the weight 21 is forced to retract within the interior of garnepiece 7 once again, whereupon the segmental gear and meshing rack teeth are now movedin the opposite direction to the arrows 26, thereby causing projection of striker lil against the` right-hand portion of soundingring 9; i.e.

reversely to the direction of travel of striker 10 when the gamepiece was raised.

It `will thus be seen that the novel move-indicator of the invention does not depend on a bob and spring or similar acceleration responsive device, but instead will respond to vertical displacement of the gamepiece even when such movement is extremely gradual such that the acceleration is negligible.

Moreover it should be realized that with suitablek gearing of rack and pinion.17,-18, and by selecting -appropriate eccentricity of pivot pin 19a relative to shaft 19 for example, it is possible to increase the travel of striker 10 in Aresponse to movement of its driving weight Z1. Thus the -red speed, to rmly strikethe delicately suspendedres-y Whatk l claim is:

l. A combined gamepiece and audible movement indicator therefor comprising a resonant ring suspended substantially symmetrically about said gamepiece, a striker slidably borne bysaid gamepiece adjacent to said ring, an actuating mechanism housed within said gamepiece, said actuating mechanism including an oscillatory member pivotally supported on said gamepiece and mechanically connected to said striker for projecting it against Said ring to produce an audible signal, and a weight loosely confined Vin an opening in the base portion of said gamepiece and movable outwardly thereof by gravity when said gamepieeeis raised froma supporting surface, and coupling means connecting said weight to said oscillatory member for actuating the latterwhen said weight moves outwardly. Y n

2. The structure of claim l, wherein said striker is coupled to said oscillatory member through gearing means.

3. The structure of claim 2 wherein said gearing means includes a toothed rack on said striker in mesh with a gear segment on said oscillatory member.

4. The structure of claimv 1, wherein said resonant ring encompasses said gamepiece, and wherein saidstriker is transversely supported to move endwise within the coniines of said ring.

5. The structure of claim 4, said striker having a T- shaped cross section by which it is slidably engaged in a slot of a conforming cross section provided in said gamepiece.

6. The structurerof claim-l wherein saidV ring is suspended about said gamepiece by means of coil springs.

7. The structure of claim 6 wherein said ring is loosel ly confined within an annular channel concentric with said gamepiece.

` ,8. The structure of claim 1 wherein said actuating mechanism comprises a crank and pinion, said crank being pivotallycoupled to said weight and eccentrically pivoted to saidV pinion, and wherein said pinion is in mesh with rack teeth on said striker.

9. A gamepiece for movement on a playingboard, said gamepiece comprising a chambered body having a base portion and an upper portion, saidv upper portion provided with an encompassing groove, a ring-like resonant element confined in said groove, means loosely supporting said resonant element in said groove, a transverse slot provided in said upper portion of the body and open at its ends .to said resonant element, a striker supported in said slot for endwise movement therein, said striker having rack teeth, a gear segment pivoted in said chambered body and having toothed engagement with said rack teeth, a pitman having an upper end anda lower end, said upper end pivoted to said gear segment radially of its vpivotal axis, a weight member vertically displaceable in onant ring 9 and cause an audible reverberation thereof. .A

Both the identifying top 6, and the actual gamepiece 7 employed to `house the sounding mechanism, may bel formed of any suitable material'as, for example, an attractively coloured plastic. The components 6 and 7 may f be fastened together in any convenient manner following assembly of striker 10 and resonant ring 9 thereon. The suspension springs 14 may be attached to ring 9 by any convenient means such as brazing and may be mounted on gamepiece 7 simply by insertion into recesses 14a therein as shown in FIG. 3.

an opening' provided in the base portion of said body,

-said weight member pivoted to said lower end of said pi-tman. l

10. The structure of claim 9 wherein said gear segment isY carried on a shaft, said shaft supported transversely of said body and interiorly thereof.

11. The structure of claim9 wherein said striker has 'a cross section of T coniiguration providing ilanges by which it is slidably confined for reciprocal movements.

l2. The structure of claim 9 wherein said rack teeth are formed on a web portion lof said striker.

13. The structure of claimr9, wherein said gamepiece is surmounted by an identifying top assembled thereto.

14. The structure of claim 13, wherein said gamepiece is provided with a shoulder remote from said board and said top is provided with a flange, said shoulder'and flange deiining said encompassing groovetherebetween.

y References Cited by the Examiner f UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,366,144 1/21 Wolcott, 116-99 DELBERT B. Lowe, Primary Examiner. l Y 

1. A COMBINED GAMEPIECE AND AUDIBLE MOVEMENT INDICATOR THEREFOR COMPRISING A RESONANT RING SUSPENDED SUBSTANTIALLY SYMMETRICALLY ABOUT SAID GAMEPIECE, A STRIKER SLIDABLY BORNE BY SAID GAMEPIECE ADJACENT TO SAID RING, AN ACTUATING MECHANISM HOUSED WITHIN SAID GAMEPIECE, SAID ACTUATING MECHANISM INCLUDING AN OSCILLATORY MEMBER PIVOTALLY SUPPORTED ON SAID GAMEPIECE AND MECHANICALLY CONNECTED TO SAID STRIKER FOR PROJECTING IT AGAINST SAID RING TO PRODUCE AN AUDIBLE SIGNAL, AND A WEIGHT LOOSELY CONFINED IN AN OPENING IN THE BASE PORTION OF SAID GAMEPIECE AND MOVABLE OUTWARDLY THEREOF BY GRAVITY WHEN SAID GAMEPIECE IS RAISED FROM A SUPPORTING SURFACE, AND COUPLING MEANS CONNECTING SAID WEIGHT TO SAID OSCILLATORY MEMBER FOR ACTUATING THE LATTER WHEN SAID WEIGHT MOVES OUTWARDLY. 